Choices
The group stood around outside the church, each of them staring at Eugene as he stood there, slack-jawed and whimpering about how he wasn't a scientist. Sometime in the night, his conscious had gotten the best of him, and come breakfast time, he'd admitted, over a stale bowl of old oatmeal, that he'd never been, at any time, affiliated with any scientific organization, and basically, the Washington D.C. story was a big hoax and his own way of staying alive in the apocalypse without having to lift a finger very often.
Daryl and Carol stayed at the back of the group, wanting to touch each other, wanting to feel close, but neither of them felt quite ready to share the new change in their relationship, whatever that change was, with the rest of the group. Carol caught Daryl's gaze as Eugene spoke, and they turned their attention back to the others, who looked ready to beat Eugene within an inch of his life for his lies.
"So basically," Glenn said slowly, his jaw clenched as he tried to process everything, "you lied the entire time?"
"I don't particularly care for the word 'lie,' but if that's what you're going with, I guess my answer is yes. I was aware of what abilities I did have, and the abilities I lacked greatly outnumbered those. I knew my chances of survival were slim to nil, and then I met Abraham, who was pretty much my exact opposite. I weighed my options and figured that sticking with him would greatly increase my chances of survival." Everybody stared at him. "I chose to make up a story, because I did not want to die. I thought if I could get to Washington, I'd be able to find a way into a safe building, free of walkers, free of chaos."
Daryl'd heard all he needed to hear. He kicked a rock in Eugene's direction, sending a spray of dirt into the air. Everybody looked at him, and he spat on the ground, turning on his heels and walking away. Carol went after him, listening to Eugene continue to explain in the background.
"Fuckin' idiot," Daryl muttered, sitting down on the church steps, watching the scene unfold from a distance. Carol sat down next to him, nudging his shoulder with her own.
"What now?" she wondered.
"I sure as hell ain't goin' to D.C. With Eugene bein' a lyin' sack of shit, I think I'll take my chances on the road. Hell, maybe go back to Terminus and finish what you started."
"Or we could move on," Carol pointed out. "Make a choice. Leave the area. Leave Georgia if we wanted to." Daryl rested his elbows on his knees and propped his chin in his hands.
"This is bullshit," Daryl grumbled. "Can't sit around waitin' to die…waitin' for the next group of assholes tryin' to kill us or take what we got." Carol thought for a moment before standing.
"Then we won't," she murmured. "C'mon." Daryl stood with her, and they went back to the group. At that point, everyone was arguing at once, and Carol stared at Rick, waiting for him to meet her gaze. When he did, he quieted, and the rest of the group followed.
"Look," Carol started, her nerves getting the best of her at first, her voice faltering. She looked at Daryl, and he nodded, giving her the encouragement she needed. "I know some of you don't know me. Some of you probably think…you did know me and now you don't. I've known some of you since this whole thing started. The thing is, what we all have in common…we survived. We're still here." Carol took a few breaths as the crowd watched her. "There are people out there that almost slaughtered half of our group yesterday. Some of them are out there, and they're going to find us if we stay here. We need to move on. We need to keep going. We need to get the hell away from this place." She looked at everyone, her confidence shaking a bit. "We have a choice to make. We need to make it now."
